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Murray Bell

'He is definitely one of the best I have ever ridden. He gave me a buzz I haven't felt in a long time,' says Dettori

Defeat may have had dire commercial consequences but fortune favours the brave. Connections of champion Falbrav said they had the best horse in the world and, in a display that lasted just two electrifying minutes, proved conclusively to 65,411 patrons at Sha Tin yesterday he's all that, and perhaps more.

Falbrav showed a brand of accelerations only champions possess to thump Newmarket Champion Stakes hero Rakti by two lengths to land the $18 million Hong Kong Cup, the final leg of the World Racing Series for 2003.

Hong Kong's Elegant Fashion (Gerald Mosse) ran a magnificent third, confirming her claim as the best thoroughbred in Hong Kong beyond a mile, but at the same time providing a reality check as to the superiority of European horses in this category.

Frankie Dettori showed why he's the number one in the world with an 11-out-of-10 exhibition on the Luca Cumani-trained stallion.

And he later went close to giving Falbrav the ultimate accolade - rating him one of the best horses he has ridden but stopping short of comparing him to the 'incomparable' Dubai Millennium.

'He is definitely one of the best I have ever ridden,' Dettori said. 'He was magnificent. Wonderful. When he took me through the gap and quickened, it was just electrifying. He gave me a buzz I haven't felt in a long time.'

Falbrav was having his 10th start for the year and, in what is understood to be a world first, all 10 have been in Group One races. He's won five of those 10 - and been a certainty beaten in two others - taking his tally to eight victories at racing's highest level.

Dettori won the Japan Cup on Falbrav 13 months ago at Nakayama but had not been on the horse at all this year, until yesterday. 'I've been trying to get back on him all year but Darryll [Holland] was pretty solid there,' Dettori said. 'But my turn finally came and I've now had two rides on him for two big-race wins. 'I'm just delighted, especially winning for my old boss Luca Cumani.'

Cumani, the famous Newmarket handler whose international credits include two Epsom Derbies (Kahyasi, High-Rise) and a Breeders' Cup Mile (Barathea), was making his first trip to Hong Kong and was effusive in victory.

'I am so proud of the horse,' Cumani said.

'He has come through all his races so well, and the only time he's been even slightly affected was when he came back from America [after his close third to dead-heaters Johar and High Chaparral in the Breeders Cup Turf].

'It took him a few days to get over that trip, but he came right pretty quickly.

'After watching him work on Friday morning, I knew I had him as good as he'd been in any of his races this year. He's run a magnificent race and proved himself a wonderful champion,' he added.

Falbrav is now scheduled to retire to the Yoshida family's famous Shadai Farm in Japan, where the son of Fairy King will be welcomed with a book of 100-plus mares, starting in February.

'Of course, if Mr Yoshida was to reconsider his retirement and send him back to me for another year, I couldn't be happier,' Cumani joked.

Teruya Yoshida wasted little time in setting the record straight. 'There are many breeders in Japan waiting for Falbrav to be retired to Shadai. We must not disappoint them,' he said.

Falbrav was bought for US$3 million by Los Angeles bloodstock agent Eugenio Colombo after the 2002 Japan Cup. 'Mr Yoshida paid US$1.5 million up front, and then raced the horse on a 50-50 basis with the previous owner for this year, and we now pay the second US$1.5 million to complete the deal,' Colombo added.

It was a huge day for the gregarious Italian, who also negotiated the sale of 2002 Italian Derby winner Rakti to Gary Tanaka, and came away from Sha Tin with a quinella result in Hong Kong's richest race.

Two-time Hong Kong champion jockey Philip Robinson said Rakti had a moment of bad luck, when Dettori beat him to a run on Falbrav, but quickly pointed out it had no effect on the result.

'We might have finished a half length closer, that's all,' Robinson said. 'The winner was too good - a mighty horse.'



Simply the best - Falbrav sizzles